10 Questions

“Wow, you’re tall!” is what most people say. I’m 6 feet tall (183cm) and wear a women’s 13 for shoes (size 44-45 in EU size)

2. What do you do when you aren’t writing or doing art?

As of Oct 2016, I started studying Evangelical Theology at a little seminary in central Germany. I will be there until 2021 and obviously will be spending a lot of time studying and reading until then.
But even after school and art, I find lots of things to do, such as Gardening, Singing, Songwriting, Playing Guitar, or Watching Movies.

3. When did you start drawing?

I’ve done that sort of thing as far I can remember.

I have an older sister who is autistic. When she and I were younger she often had to go to the hospital for different things. And during the long hours in the waiting room I would draw and color. So you could say my sister helped me get started in a way.

4. When did you decide to become an artist? Why?

That was when I wrote my first children’s story. I was 13 years old and I wrote a series about “Chickaboo”, a little chick who is born in the country, moves with his parents to the city and has various adventures with his friends. I wrote the stories so I could illustrate the pictures. Then everything else developed from there.

5. How many stories have you written?

The Chickaboo series consists of 15 stories. But after that I wrote 5 others, each independent from the rest. So a total of 20 so far.

6. What mediums do you like to work with?

I use brown package paper and acrylics for my illustrations. I like the chalky look to it. I also started painting in oil recently, so far with great results.
I use many other types of media as well (e.g. papermaché) and do various other things apart from paintings.

7. How do you go about writing?

When I have an idea that I find intersting, I just sit down and start brainstorming. Depending on the idea and age group I might do a little (or a lot!) of research. Sometimes I write the whole story within a few hours, other times I need a few months. It just depends.

8. Who inspires you in your art?

I’ve always loved Dr. Seuss books and still do. I write most of my stories in rhyme or a specific rhythm, thanks to him.

I also like his illustrations. Other artists would be Edward Hopper or Nicolas Marlet.

9. Where do you get your ideas?

Oftentimes I notice something going on around me, be it how kids like to outdo each other or a weird dream someone had the other night.

The story “Silent Lelée” e.g. was connected to my older sister. She, like the villagers, can’t talk. But once you find out how to communicate, you discover a lot of cool stuff within.

The story “The Tales at Gonderzin Park” was inspired by how little kids tell stories. I helped out in sunday school with the preschoolers for 7 years. The kids often told me about things they had done or seen, and imagination and reality are all the same to them.

The same process applies to my paintings, sculptures and music. I just look around me and when I notice a mood or something interesting, that inspires an idea.

10. What’s your favorite, illustration, writing or something else?

Writing is oftentimes easier for me, since you just write down what you think right away. You don’t need to wait for layers of paint to dry, etc.

On the other hand, paintings, illustrations and sculptures flesh out an idea that is in your head and give it depth. It is great to see a project come together towards the end and see the results of your work.

So I can’t really decide. The only thing I can say is that sculpting and writing are more intuitive. But all the different media are great.

My name is Nicole Heymann and I am an artist in Germany. You will find that I do a lot of different things, but mostly I focus on paintings and children's stories.
I enjoy (among many other things) art history, fresh-squeezed orange juice and the smell of tomato plants.